environment

Anam plans to combat invasive exotic species

JOSUÉ AROSEMENA/LA PRENSA

grass roots: Kans grass, native to Southeast Asia, has adapted to the Panamanian climate, growing in large swathes along the Canal and contributing to wildfires during the dry season.1053362

The Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (Anam) is hosting a workshop this week entitled “Especies exóticas invasoras,” that will look into techniques for preventing the arrival and proliferation of invasive alien species in Panama. These non-native species are said to “invade” established ecosystems, often displacing native species from their niche in the food chain.

Sergio Zalba, Argentina’s national director for I3N, an information network about invasive species, said that preventing an exotic species from entering the country is always preferable to having to eradicate one after it’s become a problem. Moreover, eradication measures usually prove costly and problematic.

In southern Brazil and northern Argentina, for example, certain African grasses have displaced many native species because they are more resistant to the wildfires that are common during the dry season.

A similar problem has arisen in Panama with Kans grass, or Saccharum spontaneum, a grass species that takes over large swathes of land and lends itself to wildfires during the dry season because of its high flammability.

In the Canal basin, the mud clam Corbicula fluminea, a rapid-spawning mollusk indigenous to the United States, is known to pose a threat to native clam species and contribute to flooding in nearby rivers. However, large-scale capture of the clam for local consumption has kept them from wreaking too much damage, said Janzel Villalaz, a professor of marine biology at the Universidad de Panamá.

Some countries are fighting back. Silvia Ziller, director of Instituto Horus of Brazil, explained that in biologists in that country have created a database of invasive species which has helped the government educate people about the hazards of introducing exotic plants and animals.

Darío Luque, a biologist at Anam, said that in Panama several institutions are working together with Anam to put together a similar database.

Environmental authorities are also hoping to start a campaign to make people more aware of the dangers non-native species’ pose to the country's economy.